HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) — UPDATE (5/1/25): It appears that the man who was arrested early yesterday morning for allegedly setting multiple fires in Harrisonburg will remain in custody for the foreseeable future.

According to online records, a bond hearing for Ryan Lambert was continued until May 20th in general district court.

He is currently being held at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail.

 

A man was arrested early Tuesday morning after allegedly setting multiple fires near businesses on the eastern side of Harrisonburg before fleeing police and eventually being captured in Greene County.

40-year-old Ryan Lambert is accused of being responsible for a string of incidents that started at approximately 11 p.m. on Monday evening when the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Emergency Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call about fireworks being launched near Kroger off East Market Street. That was quickly followed by a call stating that a man had just set a fire in a trash can in front of Best Buy in the Harrisonburg Crossing shopping center off Burgess Road. Harrisonburg Fire Department personnel, while responding to the shopping center for the call near Best Buy, witnessed an additional fire that had been set in a trash can in front of the Model Nail Spa in the shopping center at the corner of Burgess Road and East Market Street. Another fire appeared to have been set in a trash can in front of the nearby PetSmart.

HFD extinguished the fires upon arrival and no one was hurt as a result of these incidents. The HFD Fire Marshal’s Office is currently investigating.

All 9-1-1 calls identified the same suspect vehicle description – an orange truck pulling a white jeep – which allowed Harrisonburg Police Department officers to locate the vehicle nearby at the Sheetz on East Market Street at approximately 1:15 a.m. The driver, Lambert, refused to exit his vehicle and fled the scene into Rockingham County where the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office located him at a convenience store on Spotswood Trail just outside of Harrisonburg. After a pursuit, Lambert was stopped in Greene County and taken into custody.

HPD has obtained charges for Felony Eluding and Obstruction of Justice. Charges from HFD are pending the conclusion of the department’s investigation. Additionally, Lambert was wanted in Chesterfield County on a capias for arrest related to charges that include a firearms violation and a protective order violation.

Lambert is currently being held at the Rockingham-Harrisonburg Regional Jail without bond.